


the night sky coloured with you

by wildflower (bangtrashsyd)



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Light Angst, M/M, onghwang if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 14:58:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12843612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bangtrashsyd/pseuds/wildflower
Summary: “I'm good, hyung” he says in response, “How about you?”“I’m doing well, much better than I would have done-” Jonghyun stops himself, looking up at him with a sheepish smile. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Just a few months ago, we swore never to debut without each other.”or, another nielbugi relationship study





	the night sky coloured with you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thealigirl8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealigirl8/gifts).



> title taken from love paint - nu'est

“They’re saying that I cheated.” Daniel leans his head against the wall of the practice room. It’s a familiar one; claimed by the original ‘Justice League’ team as theirs. Jonghyun is sleepy eyed next to him, but his presence is constant and grounds him. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

“You could have thought it through a little more.” Jonghyun agrees mildly. He sighs again. Calloused fingers slide across the floor to intertwine their hands together. “You have to face the consequences.”

“I know.” He says simply. He’s honestly grateful that the punishment is only an exclusion from the song ‘Never’, and not a complete exclusion from the third elimination challenge. He’s come too far, tried too hard, broken himself into too many pieces and then, try to piece himself together too many times. He’s made too many friends, learnt too many lessons. He can’t let his place in this show just _go._ Daniel huffs a breath, and Jonghyun clenches his fingers tightly.

“Don’t worry.” He soothes. “You’ll do fine in whatever you do. Remember what I said? You were born to be a star.”

Daniel moves his head, pressing his ear to the wall. Even though it’s supposed to be sound proof, he can hear someone in the next room singing. It’s nearly five in the early morning, but this is what the show has done to them: made them work harder than they have ever before.

“Hyung.” He mumbles. He’s so sleepy it takes effort to keep his eyes awake. Jonghyun turns to him. There are a million stories in his eyes, a million lectures and lessons learnt from falling and rising up again. “Will you wake me up for breakfast?”

“Yeah.” Jonghyun hums, letting go of his hand to cup his cheek and bring his head down to rest on his shoulder. He keeps the hand there for a few seconds, the heat from his palm bleeding into his cold cheek. “Go to sleep.”

 

He’s in Dongho’s team. He relaxes when he sees him; a Nu’est member is always one that can be counted on. Minhyun and Jonghyun, he knows, are like the glue of that team. He doesn’t know Dongho or Minki very well, but he’s seen them helping some of the slower kids.

When Dongho pushes him to be the leader, he’s surprised. Dongho is the one with the stage name ‘Sexy Bandit’ and the one with more experience, but they lock eyes across the half semi-circle their group members have formed. _Trust me._ His eyes seem to coax, and Daniel relents. He’s afraid that the both of them will clash. Dongho seems to be the kind of person to have a fixed mindset and pre-determined outcome for his goals. He tells Jonghyun that over dinner, and the guy laughs.

“Don’t sweat it.” He advices. “Just go gentle with him. Besides, you’re better at dance, he’s better at vocals. Just divide the work between the both of you.”

As usual, Jonghyun knows best when it comes to the people he loves.

 

Anger is a familiar emotion to him. Daniel burrows his head into the mattress, pulls the blanket over himself, and jams the pillow on top of his head so he can scream into the bed. After that, he silently wills the tears to stop, but it isn’t working. He spends what seems like hours trapped in his head, replaying Hyunbin’s broken expression when they announced-

They didn’t _have_ to change the cut-off rank, did they? He’s replaced Jonghyun as the first place, but what little joy he felt has dwindled to shame. Shame when he’s doing so well, at the cost of Hyunbin dropping entirely from the show. They didn’t even get to see him go. By the time they returned to the dorm, he’s already left.

There’s a sudden dip in the mattress, and someone shoves him over to tuck him against the wall. The unknown person is silent, but Daniel catches a whiff of the cucumber body lotion Hyunbin left behind. The kid packed everything except his toiletries, leaving even the expensive masks and lotions for them to use. He sniffles slightly again, then removes himself from the constriction of the pile of blankets, turning his head to look at whoever it is who has disrupted his privacy.

It’s Jonghyun, and he’s asleep.

Daniel watches him, seeing the way his face is smoothed over to look younger and more innocent. There’s no trace of the charismatic leader, just a innocent youth. He remembers what Minhyun said once: _“Jonghyun’s never had the proper chance to be a kid. His whole life was for us, you know?”_ He bites his lip. Jonghyun’s probably been out practicing again. His way of relieving emotion is odd: he just practices until his limbs go wobbly. Sometimes, when he’s very stressed, he sleepwalks. One time, they woke up to see him sleeping next to the drained swimming pool. Jonghyun rolls slightly in his sleep, and Daniel puts out a hand to keep him from rolling over the edge.

“Mmpf?” Jonghyun mumbles, and he puts a hand on his brow. “Dan?”

“Hi, hyung.” He pulls the blanket over him. “Tired?”

“Mm, very.” He hums again, rolling into his chest. Daniel flinches, and Jonghyun starts to snore lightly. There’s someone walking through the door, a tall, gangly shape. He allows his heart to leap for a moment, childishly thinking that _It’s Hyunbin_ but the light from the corridor illuminates the person’s face. It’s Minhyun, instead. His eyes are rimmed with red, his hair standing up all over his bed. The man doesn’t even _look_ at him or the suspicious mass in his blankets, robotically stripping himself of the jacket, dumping it on the floor, and climbing up the ladder to his mattress.

Once, Daniel would have asked Minhyun what to do with Jonghyun. Unfortunately, Minhyun seems close to death and has begun to snore himself, so he makes do with what he has. He hooks his arms around his leader and hefts him up so his head lies against the pillow, shifting him on his side so he won’t snore and putting Hyunbin’s cat toy behind his back to prop him up. He pulls the blanket up, covering him. His bed’s not the warmest; it’s actually the closest to the air conditioning. Often, he’s had to request for two or more blankets.

“Night, hyung.” He mouths, then lies down again. It’s a little squeezy, but it’ll do.

When he wakes up in the morning, he’s gone, leaving a warm depression in the bed where he slept. Daniel sits up, disorientated, and nearly hits himself on the ceiling. He’s grown taller, actually. Before, the top of his head would just lightly brush it. The toilet door opens, and Jonghyun steps out.

“Morning.” He pads over on silent feet. The rest of the room is still asleep, Jaehwan _not_ snoring for once. He scoffs at the thought, then descends the ladder. “I didn’t use hot water, you know how much water Seongwoo uses. I think they’ve decreased the amount of hot water we can use since- uh-”

At the same time, the both of them look to their right at where Hyunbin used to sleep. The bunk is arranged tidily. There’s no sign that a person used to sleep there at all.

“I’ll check with the director later.” He offers lamely to cover up the silence, and Jonghyun nods awkwardly, patting his shoulder before ducking into Jaehwan’s bunk to rouse him awake. Daniel looks on.

 

Backstage, they round up everyone for a group hug and a picture. Hyunbin checks over it and posts it to Instagram immediately.

“The fans will surely go wild,” he grins, nudging Jonghyun with a kind of easy familiarity that brings a smile to Daniel’s lips. It’s almost like he never left, they way he’s been joking around with them. “Right, hyung?”

“Of course.” Jonghyun says indulgently, and Minhyun and Seongwoo slip out of the room to do something or another. The both of them have been close lately, since the composer for their debut track mentioned their vocal tones being similar. Hyunbin beams, then bounces over to Jaehwan, tripping on his shoelaces along the way. Daniel watches him go fondly.

“How’s everything?’ Jonghyun tucks a hand into his elbow, leading them back to the main room where everyone else is celebrating the end of the concert. The weeks spent practicing have been exhausting; Woodam collapsed again from overexertion.

“I'm good, hyung” he says in response, “How about you?”

“I’m doing well, much better than I would have done-” Jonghyun stops himself, looking up at him with a sheepish smile. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Just a few months ago, we swore never to debut without each other.”

Daniel’s throat dries immediately.

It’s a well known subject- Jonghyun not making it into Wanna One. Besides Jihoon, Seongwoo, and himself, Jonghyun had been one of the highest ranking contestants. Hyunbin, if he hadn’t been eliminated, would probably have made it too. Yet there are only four out of the six original members that made it in. He coughs.

“Sorry.” Jonghyun mutters, then pauses in his footsteps. “Dan, you have to take care of yourself, okay?”

“Yes, hyung.” He says automatically, dodging Jonghyun’s slap. He’s got experience. “Really, hyung. I know.”

“Help Jisung out, okay?” Jonghyun reaches out to smooth down his hair. Daniel smiles, showing his bunny teeth, and he pokes his cheeks. “Cute. Hey, if you don’t get phones, remember to write me a letter to let me know you’re okay. Minhyun has the address memorised.”

Daniel hums an affirmative and steps forward, wrapping his arms around his friend and holding him close.

“Are you crying?” Jonghyun asks wryly into his chest, his voice deep and gravelly.

“Nah.” He murmurs, mouth tasting of salt. Jonghyun draws back to put a hand to his cheek, wiping his tears away.

“Liar,” he teases, “I know you too well, Kang Daniel.”

“I’m fine, sorry.” Daniel drops his arms and scrubs at his face. Jonghyun tucks his hand into his, and they continue walking, aimlessly, to nowhere.

 

“Jonghyun-hyung!” He breathes, and Seongwoo casts him a fond look. Jonghyun steps off the ledge of the van, stumbling slightly before waving to the cameras and making his way towards them. Seongwoo bounds towards him quickly, and Daniel follows close behind. Jonghyun’s face lights up at the sight of them, and they run together to embrace one another. There's someone running a commentary at the back, probably Soogeun or someone else, but all he can focus on is  _Jonghyun._

“Hey guys!” Jonghyun beams. There’s a look in his eyes Daniel’s never seen, a lightness in his footsteps and the set of his posture, a tilt to his smile that spreads the expression all the way up to his eyes. He looks happy, he realises. So much happier than before.

“Hey, hyung.” He says quietly. “I missed you.”

“We all did.” Seongwoo agrees, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. Jonghyun giggles slightly before slipping himself between the two of them and wrapping his arms around their waists.

“Missed you too.” He says easily, then smiles to the cameras. Daniel and Seongwoo exchange a meaningful look over his head, nodding.

He’s happy, and it’s all that matters.

**Author's Note:**

> hello i hope the reciever of this fic enjoys it! hopefully i managed to capture what yall thought was the nielbugi dynamic but if i didn't please share with me what's your idea of nielbugi below!! hehe


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